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Wednesday, April 6, 2011

A Few Words On Computer Viruses and Tech Guys

Yeah, that's right. My computer caught a virus yesterday. A-freaking-gain. And, once again, it was whose fault? MINE. No, this time I was not looking at questionable websites. I was looking at different websites to see if I could sneakily get an MP3 song for free. And thing, BINGO, the ugly box popped up from my USELESS new-ish anti-virus protection telling me that the site I was on had MALWARE.

It's a boring story. I won't kill you with it. Let me just say that I'm ever so tired of anti-virus software, that lets me know I've encountered a virus, but then does nothing to get rid of it.

So, I immediately felt cold and sick, realising that my son uses the computer CONSTANTLY to listen to music and find stuff to draw. My teeth were nearly chattering at the thought of him being without the computer for more than a day. Terrible, but true. Sorry, but that kid NEEDS his same routine.

I packed the kids in the car last night, hefted out the harddrive, and drove the short distance to a computer fix it joint. The surly tech guy in there did not give a crap about my pain. He handed me a clipboard, and in a very bored voice, told me to write out as much as I could remember about how and when the computer effed itself. I was all set to plead my case about my poor widdle boy who can't LIVE without the computer for his art, and beg them to squeeze me in faster than the two days it was originally going to take for them to even LOOK at it. Mr. Sensitive cut me off and informed me, with heavy-lidded eyes that it would cost me sixty bucks for priority service.

"OKAY!" I said.

His eyes widened for a split second in surprise. Yeah, yeah, a sucker is born ever minute. Whatever. I had been told on the phone that they were super backed up, and I knew 3 days without a 'puter would be torture to the kid as well as MY BLOG LOVING SELF.

Then, Mr. Sensitive, as I was filling out the last of the paperwork, said; "Yeah, we're super busy. It's weird: it's like everybody decided to SCREW UP on the same day."

Okay HOCKEY PLAYER HAIR DUDE, I get it. I'm an idiot. You're the tech god. We silly humans are all beneath you.

By the way, why are computer tech guys--and I'm not talking about the nice, friendly young dudes you get on the help line for your internet provider--I'm talking about the serious tech guys: the ones who can BUILD their own freaking computer...the ones who come set up new hardware/software if you work in an office...the ones who you need to phone at work (yes, I used to have a job and a real pay cheque) when you have problems on your computer...why are those guys always COMPLETELY LACKING IN PEOPLE SKILLS??? They're the guys who never use the word "BYE" to end a phone conversation, they simply hang up. They ALWAYS sound impatient and irritated. They NEVER have a sense of humour, and they ALWAYS have just a whisper of contempt in their voices.

WHY IS THAT?

Is it because a) they're already a little bit smarter than us, so they feel superior? b) they already feel superior, and their superiority is reinforced every single day when stupid humans ask them stupid, stupid computer questions, like "how do I unplug my modem???"Hmm....that could be it...

Incidentally, I came THIS close to calling the shop before I brought my computer in and asking them if I had to unplug EVERYTHING from the back of the harddrive. Lousy brain! DON'T GIVE THE TECHS ANY MORE REASONS TO FEEL SUPERIOR THAN THEY ALREADY HAVE.

Bleh.

So, I was all set to post a really yummy recipe, and OOPSY, no computer.

Do you know what I did, people? DO YOU KNOW?!? I DID FREAKING HOUSEWORK! I CLEANED THE HOUSE!

It's a travesty I tells ya! Yeah, I vacuumed, and I scrubbed the bathroom, washed the bathroom floor, dusted everywhere...oh, I can't talk about it any longer. It's just too upsetting. What a terrible waste of those magical two hours when both children are in school.

14 comments:

I wondered where you went! If you ever need to have a song for free: go to Grooveshark. you can even post a widget of your song on your site, blog - whatever. I'll leave you one on my post tonight to show you.Sorry to hear your house was cleaned. . .yes, that was meant to be dorky!!!!! Love your style, Karen - love it tons!~

i hate viruses. you might ask one of the less superior computer geeks to help you set up a limited user account, which pretty much prevents you from getting the nasty bugs. ever since we did that, no more problems from me or the kid inviting the puter critters into the hard drive. now we just get struck by lightning.

we just had a really nasty nasty, one wipe out everything...and OUR COMPUTER guy, does door to door service! No kidding he came he picked up , he fixed, he brought back and went down and set it all up, plugged it in and added what ever he does...don't they all do that? (cheeky i know)

thanks Christina! I'm sorry too that I wasted so much time making the house fabulous, because it's back to it's pseudo-dump state again today. Thanks for the grooveshark tip. I wonder if I can post a song in a video I've made though...prob not...

geez...the guys I went to had a shop that looked like some gross guy's basement bedroom, and yet it wasn't even below ground level: all dingy, grey and in need of a good wash. Apparently there are some guys who'll come look at your computer, but I'm sure I'd have to pay a premium for that!

i figure those guys are mean becauuse they are lonely and they aren,t gettin, any....or i could just be stereotyping,oh well the good news is you are back to 89! must be all the clickity clicking we all did for you yesterday.hey don,t feel bad, i still can,t figure ou t facebook.

limited user is no big deal. you just do your surfing on that account so that if someone hacks you, they can't access your computer's info or infect you. you can still do everything you want/need to do on there. no tethering involved.